Most Read... John McAuliffeBill Manhire in Conversation with John McAuliffe
(PN Review 259)
Patricia CraigVal Warner: A Reminiscence
(PN Review 259)
Eavan BolandA Lyric Voice at Bay
(PN Review 121)
Joshua WeinerAn Exchange with Daniel Tiffany/Fall 2020
(PN Review 259)
Vahni CapildeoOn Judging Prizes, & Reading More than Six Really Good Books
(PN Review 237)
Christopher MiddletonNotes on a Viking Prow
(PN Review 10)
Next Issue Kirsty Gunn re-arranges the world John McAuliffe reads Seamus Heaney's letters and translations Chris Price's 'Songs of Allegiance' David Herman on Aharon Appelfeld Victoria Moul on Christopher Childers compendious Greek and Latin Lyric Book Philip Terry again answers the question, 'What is Poetry'
Poems Articles Interviews Reports Reviews Contributors
Reader Survey
PN Review Substack

This poem is taken from PN Review 247, Volume 45 Number 5, May - June 2019.

Three Poems Jodie Hollander
The Worry Book

In the worry book I write down all my worries,
so I don’t have to worry all the time.
But I worry when I write down all my worries
that I might not be writing the right worries,
or I worry I may have forgotten a worry or two.
And I worry people will know how much I worry
and worry my worrying will make them worry.
You see how worrying worrying can be?
It makes me worry: will my worrying make me ill,
give me cancer: now that’s pretty worrying.
But then I worry: these aren’t rational thoughts;
and I worry about the hours I waste worrying,
which turns to months and years, more worrying,
which makes me think of death, the ultimate worry.
And then I start to worry about how I’ll die.
...


Searching, please wait... animated waiting image